Chapter 389

Chapter 389 Concubine Shen said angrily, "So we're just supposed to let that Beauty Ming stay here and disgust people?" Xie Run spoke slowly, "It's nothing serious. Don't let her ruin everyone's mood." Concubine Shen's emotions barely stabilized. Then she heard Xie Run say, "Beauty Ming has suffered such a great grievance. Ben Gong cannot very well sit by and do nothing." Concubine Shen was startled and quickly said, "Sister Xie..." Xie Run instructed Xiaoshu, "Send someone to escort Beauty Ming to Consort Jingshu's Yongming Palace." "Say that Ben Gong cannot bear to see anyone wronged, and ask Consort Jingshu to investigate carefully. We must seek justice for Beauty Ming." Concubine Shen swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue. "Sister Xie is truly kind-hearted." Xie Run glanced at her, holding back a smile. Lady Fang also found it hard to suppress a smile. Having been in the palace for so long, Xie Run had long since cultivated a good state of mind, completely unaffected by Beauty Ming's matter. She happily admired the flowers with the two of them, then cut a few peonies to take back for arranging. She had only just returned to Zhaohua Palace and taken a sip of tea when she heard Xiaoshu say, "Your Ladyship, Consort Jingshu punished Beauty Ming with thirty strokes of the cane for disturbing you and speaking rudely." Xie Run was somewhat surprised. "Thirty strokes of the cane? It's rare to see such a harsh punishment in the palace." Xiaoshu said with some dissatisfaction, "Your Ladyship, if Consort Jingshu punished her, so be it, but she did it in your name." "You have always been careful in your actions and gentle in your dealings. But she—she strikes hard herself, yet insists on borrowing your name to ruin your reputation." Xie Run smiled lightly. "Xiaoshu, I'm not a good person either." "I sent Beauty Ming to Yongming Palace because I didn't want to get my hands dirty with her. I intended to use Consort Jingshu's hand to deal with her." "Consort Jingshu understood this, and was inevitably somewhat annoyed in her heart, which is why she punished the troublemaker so severely." Xiaoshu said, "But... she punished her too harshly." Xie Run said, "Beauty Ming disturbing me is one matter, and speaking rudely is another. I'm afraid she said something else in Yongming Palace?" Xiaoshu was startled, then went to ask the palace attendant who had delivered the message. She returned and said, "Your Ladyship sees clearly!" "The reason Consort Jingshu punished Beauty Ming so harshly is because Beauty Ming spoke rudely in Yongning Palace, and her words involved the Seventh Prince. She even said that Consort Jingshu's Seventh Prince was snatched from Beauty Wu. That's why Consort Jingshu punished her so heavily." Xie Run blinked. "Beauty Ming... she... really dares." Compared to that, Consort Jingshu's punishment was actually lenient. Xie Run hadn't seen such a brave soul in a long time. A Beauty, daring to openly provoke a First-Rank Consort. Compared to that, her slight against Xie Run was nothing major. That evening, two more things happened in the palace. One was that the Emperor issued an edict demoting Beauty Ming, directly reducing her from Lady of Beauty to Baolin. The other was that the Sixth Prince suddenly fell acutely ill. Xie Run learned of this in the middle of the night. She hadn't been sleeping very soundly, and upon hearing some commotion, she asked a couple of questions. Dantao stood to one side holding a lamp. "They say the Sixth Prince suddenly fell ill. Lady Xian sent someone to summon the imperial physician in the middle of the night. The matter caused such a stir that even the Emperor went." Xie Run leaned lazily against the wall, her reaction a beat slow, before she said, "Then send someone to check as well." "For no reason, how did the Sixth Prince suddenly fall acutely ill?" Xiaoshu brought tea to moisten Xie Run's lips and said softly, "It's hard to say—perhaps Lady Xian was anxious again and stirred up some trouble." "Or perhaps the Sixth Prince isn't seriously ill at all, and Lady Xian was just so worried she lost her composure and made such a big fuss." "Doesn't Your Ladyship know Lady Xian's temperament?" Xie Run was pregnant now, so she didn't need to make a special trip to visit. Hearing Xiaoshu's words, she thought it made sense. "We'll know by tomorrow morning." Early the next morning, while Xie Run was at her toilette, a palace attendant reported at the door. "Reporting to Your Ladyship, last night the Sixth Prince suddenly stopped breathing after coming into contact with lily pollen, and his face broke out in a rash. Lady Xian was so frantic she lost her senses, which is why the whole Six Palaces heard about it." Xie Run frowned. "The child's lily allergy is inherited from his mother—the old palace attendants should all know this." "Lady Xian has been caring for the Sixth Prince for some time now. Didn't she know?" The attendant said, "Last night the Emperor also went to see the Sixth Prince and happened to ask the same question. Noble Lady Xian said she didn't know and had never been told by the servants. The Emperor flew into a rage and punished many of those who care for the Sixth Prince." Xie Run continued to frown. "The old attendants who originally served by the Sixth Prince's side were indeed all sent away." Dantao set down the comb, picked up some newly made lip balm and dabbed it on Xie Run's lips, saying gently, "That's just an excuse." "How many old attendants came to the palace from the prince's residence back then? No one deliberately hid it—a little inquiry would have revealed it." Xie Run looked helplessly at Dantao. "Even you and I can see through this, so the Emperor must know it too." "I wonder if this matter was an accident or if there's something more behind it." At the first quarter of noon, Concubine Shen came running to find Xie Run again. "Afraid Sister might be bored during her pregnancy, I've come specially to keep you company and share some amusing talk." Xie Run smiled helplessly. "What novel things are there? Do tell." There was no need to guess—Concubine Shen had certainly been the first to inquire about what had happened in Lady Xian's palace and hurried over to tell Xie Run. Concubine Shen chuckled. "Yesterday, the Sixth Prince accidentally smelled lilies and nearly choked. At first, we thought it was an accident, but upon careful reflection, there may be another reason behind it." Xie Run raised an eyebrow, a hint of curiosity stirring within her. "Could it be that someone plotted against him?" In the blink of an eye, several possibilities flashed through Xie Run's mind. Concubine Shen paused, then said earnestly, "I can't tell who did the scheming, but Lady Xian seems to be using this incident to wage a battle against the old nursemaid by the Sixth Prince's side." "Last night, after the imperial physician prescribed medicine for the Sixth Prince, the Emperor went over." "Lady Xian first had a good cry, then complained openly and subtly—saying no one had told her that the Sixth Prince was allergic to lilies—scaring the old nursemaid into kneeling on the spot." "The old nursemaid is clever. She confessed to everything without defending herself, which instead made Lady Xian seem rather overeager." "After hearing this, the Emperor neither punished the old nursemaid nor comforted Lady Xian. He only dismissed the several palace attendants who had been personally caring for the Sixth Prince and Lady Xian." Seeing Xie Run's thoughtful expression, Concubine Shen lowered her voice and leaned in. "Sister Xie, in your view, did Lady Xian do this herself?" Xie Run shook her head. "Probably not. The Emperor cannot tolerate anyone who harms the Imperial Heir. If Lady Xian were truly involved, the Sixth Prince would no longer be allowed to stay in her care." "Besides, Lady Xian is petty-minded and not particularly clever. To say she harbors ill intentions—she wouldn't go that far." Had Lady Xian possessed any real cunning, back when the Sixth Prince was living in Zhaohua Palace and refused to go with her, she could have employed one or two small schemes, and Xie Run feared she would not have had a moment's peace. It would not have escalated to the point where the entire Six Palaces knew of it, and she was reprimanded by the Emperor. Clever people do clever things; fools can only do foolish things.